Mentre ci troviamo sull'orlo di una nuova generazione di schede grafiche di Nvidia e AMD, una discussione familiare ha preso piede online: vale ancora la pena acquistare la generazione precedente di GPU quando qualcosa di più nuovo, più brillante e più potente è all'orizzonte?
Posso chiarirtelo: ehm, sì.
L'argomento rimane lo stesso delle ultime versioni generazionali: è inutile acquistare un prodotto sul punto di diventare "obsoleto" e i prezzi spesso non scendono abbastanza da valerne la pena. Là is Questa argomentazione ha logica, ma non tiene conto di un grosso problema: il mercato delle GPU non segue la logica da molto tempo.
Almeno non nei modi che contano. Sì, negli anni passati potevi recarti al tuo negozio di computer fisico e prendere una nuova scheda grafica con parente facilità, che si tratti di un modello nuovo di zecca a prezzo consigliato o della generazione precedente che stava sostituendo con un gustoso sconto, ma gli ultimi anni hanno dimostrato che semplicemente non è possibile prevedere il futuro di un mercato, GPU o altro.
When GPUs like the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 and RTX 2080 were first released, plenty of PC gamers and computing enthusiasts believed an upgrade from the previous generation couldn't be justified by the insanely high prices, and that waiting for the 3000 series to drop was the more sensible option – and then all hell broke loose.
La storia potrebbe ripetersi
Le rare GPU RTX 3080 a tema Gundam integrate in una piattaforma mineraria hanno suscitato scalpore online. (Credito immagine: I_Leak_VN)
The Ampere series of cards like the GeForce RTX 3060 had a divisive pricepoint – some finding it to be reasonable, while other lamented the apparent death of affordable graphics cards – but a terrible cocktail of word issues also made them almost impossible to find.
The Cryptomarket saw a boom in Ethereum, which made the cards very attractive to miners who snapped them up in bulk for use in cryptomining farms, while the Covid-19 pandemic caused supply chain issues and a chip shortage that affected almost everything in the tech world, from computing components to cars and appliances.
All this scarcity inflated the price of GPUs to wild levels, with the GeForce RTX 3080 hitting an average resale price of almost x3 times its original MSRP during the height of the Great GPU Shortage. AMD fared a little better, though even Team Red was still blighted by shortages and scalpers.
One difference between how the two companies approached the situation was in regards to cryptomining, with Nvidia eventually re-releasing updated models of almost its entire Ampere series equipped with anti-mining preventatives.
These LHR (low-hashrate) cards weren’t completely uncrackable, but they may have helped dissuade folks from snapping up mountains of RTX 3060s. On the other hand, AMD acknowledged the situation and stated that once a customer buys a GPU, they’re free to do what they like with it.
Un grosso problema, tuttavia, è che questa scarsità non ha influenzato solo quella generazione di schede grafiche, ma ha anche gonfiato il prezzo di quasi tutte le GPU sul mercato. L'argomento di aspettare fino al rilascio della prossima generazione di schede grafiche per accaparrarsi un modello più economico e vecchio o una nuova versione a un prezzo ragionevole è completamente scomparso da un giorno all'altro.
It's your money, your requirements and your choice
Perché è così felice? Chissà, ma scommetto che la sua GPU fa esattamente ciò di cui ha bisogno. (Credito immagine: Shutterstock)
Will this happen again? It's hard to say.
The shortage was caused by a variety of issues that just happened to occur at the same time, but should Covid-19 cause more supply chain constraints then it's likely that both Lovelace and RDNA3 GPUs could see their prices start to skyrocket due to demand. The crypto market also has every likelihood to recover given its volatility, so you shouldn’t feel like we’re out of the woods just yet.
I do have a simpler argument in all of this though: it's worth buying a new GPU if it’s worth it to you .
Older GPUs still very much have a place in the market right now. You only have to look at the Steam Hardware Survey to see how many gamers are still using cards that are several generations old at this point, and depending on the games you play, it's likely you don’t actually need an especially powerful graphics card. Most first-person shooters and battle-royale style games intentionally keep the system requirements low to attract more players for example.
I wrote a piece several months ago off the back of the RTX 3070 Ti getting poor reviews. It was marked down for its price and performance, but the joy it has bought me is beyond value. I won’t feel bad for my choices given the circumstances given graphics cards were harder to find than gold dust. Would I have preferred an RTX 3090? Sure, but did I need one? Absolutely not.
Poiché il costo della vita sta diventando sempre più alto in molti paesi del mondo, semplicemente non ha senso passare alla "prossima grande novità" solo per il gusto di farlo, e sia le GPU Ampere che quelle RDNA2 saranno ancora rilevanti e capaci per gli anni a venire.
If you see an especially good deal on a cheap graphics card in the coming weeks, don’t let early adopters try and convince you to wait for Lovelace or RDNA3 unless you’re happy to do so – we simply don’t know what the market will look like when they launch.
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